Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
Thich Nhat Hanh
I discovered Thich Nhat Hanh a couple years ago while visiting someone I know. Several of his books lined the book shelves. Being that i was in this paradigm at the time I took one down and leafed through it. I knew this person whose books there were wanted to move in this direction. They were stuck. Oh they wanted people to believe they were enlightened.
I knew different.
After leafing through the book I took down from the shelf, I asked if I could borrow the books by Hanh. What an amazing person he is. Anyone wanting to understand, joy, peace, love should check him out. After discovering him, I went into research mode.
Typically, upon finding a subject that fascinates me I dig deep into said topic. Did you know that Martin Luther King nominated Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize? Much of Hanh’s writing reminds me of Buddhism. That’s because he founded a Buddhist Church. As you may know from previous entries at Wisdom and Life, I identify very closely with Buddhist thought. It’s where I feel most aligned. It’s what brings me joy. So much of what Buddhism stands for is where I stand; with one glaring exception. That being that Buddhists don’t have a Divinity the pray to, they don’t believe there is a higher power. They don’t pray to God.
That’s the one thing I simply cannot comprehend.
Not that anyone doesn’t have a right to their opinion.
I’ve seen too much.
I know too much.
I see God in everything. My Faith is simply too strong.
So, let’s see if we can swing this post back to the topic at hand. When I began writing this I wanted to know what Joy means to you. I searched around for quotes on Joy and settled on the one above by Thich Nhat Hanh.
What brings you joy?
What does Joy mean to you?
Would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Be Happy! Be Well! Be Positive!
Blessings to you.
–
Chris
I find joy in so many things, Chris, I don’t know where to start! Joy, like having a positive attitude, is definitely a choice. There is so much in God’s great creation to be joyful about!
Blessings, my friend!
Joy is an off-set of love which is to me the main fruit of the Spirit of God. One can choose to be happy or not. Just by the fact that I was awakened today, it brings me joy that I have this precious thing called life. My children bring me great joy as well.
Have a blessed day.
I am joy. Sometimes I let things diminish my sense of this, but like you said about seeing God in everything, I see joy in everything. Thank you for reminding me to keep Joy in my upper consciousness today.
I wanted to also comment on your Buddhist idea about God. I perceive things differently. When Buddha was asked what God is (or what first cause is), he remained silent. The reason for this is because it is not possible to describe God – for to label or identify God from a human standpoint would be to diminish any concept of God. Ancient Judaism has a similar viewpoint, which is why you are not supposed to use the word God in Judaism, but more commonly refer to God as YHWH and El (plus others) because God is indescribable in human words.
Buddha’s teachings where centered on overcoming suffering and he taught that in order to do this you must transcend to an understanding of the true nature of reality (which could easily be thought of as God). So the Buddhist practices are their veneration to the very nature of God, which is the transcendence of suffering. The concept is extremely abstract and causes one to think deeply about God, the cosmos, and why we suffer as humans. Buddhists have as their highest ideal the state of Nirvana. The Buddha calls it the highest bliss. It is a state beyond all conceptual thought and is described by the Buddha as the Unborn, the Uncreated, which I think could very easily be thought of as God. There is no rule that Buddhists can’t believe or worship God, but many believe that to worship a deity (a human concept) is diminishing to their transcendence to Nirvana.
Something to think about – deep stuff but intriguing and wonderful to think about. Blessings – Joleen